Curiosity at work

Steve mentioned in a previous post the great hospitality that his cousins, Tony and Lydia, showed us  during our stay in Colorado. Our two nights at their home on the outskirts of Boulder were a perfect start to our journey. Their balanced, honest approach to living and building a home is a model for us to draw inspiration from as we start our own lives together.

We admired right away that though both have engaging careers, they also have hobbies that push them to try and learn new things. Lydia is a gifted artist worthy of her own gallery space. She has a studio space off the living room, and many of her watercolors displayed throughout the house are gorgeous renderings of images has collected from her travels.

We loved the tour Tony gave us of the work spaces he has created for his many hobbies. He has a shop that he uses to restore antique cars and tractors. He used the old Chevy below on his birthday to load and haul three massive loads of wood to dry for winter.

He built a chicken coop he and Lydia use to raise hens that produce the most colorful and delicious eggs I've had.

He uses an old tractor he found on Craigslist and restored to plow a plot of land and grow an assortment of vegetables, including tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, garlic, beets, and potatoes. Yield from this crop is used to make homemade canned spaghetti sauces and tomatillo salsa. They have also planted a veritable orchard to boot with peach, apple, and now currant trees that all bear fruit or soon will.

And when we thought they couldn't get any cooler, they did. They're beekeepers, too, raising boxes of bees they use to make their own honey.

All of these major "side-projects" are manifestations of their curiosity at work. When we asked Tony how they learned how to do all of these fascinating things, he said he learned it all from reading books.

Thanks again for sharing your home with us, Tony and Lydia. Steve and I have lots of reading to do!